90s

As Phil Collins announces the final 2 albums "…But Seriously" and "The Essential Going Back" in the #takealookatmenow remasters series, we look back on a live concert of his in Paris in 1997, widely considered one of his best. It was released as a DVD "Live & Loose In Paris." These tracks serve as a timely reminder of exactly how many storming hits he has in his vast repertoire. Sing along to your heart’s content!

First of all, for all you Canadians out there who stood up and saluted as soon as you saw the name “Gordon Lightfoot,” at ease. We understand he’s a national treasure of the Great White North and someone to whom you are legally required to genuflect…

Okay, we actually made up that second one, but there’s no denying that Mr. Lightfoot is a legend of Canadian music, which is why it was such a big deal in 1999 when we – by which we mean our Rhino Handmade imprint – released the four-disc set Songbook, which featured 88 songs from the man’s back catalog, 16 of which had been previously unreleased up to that point. To call it a career retrospective is just about accurate, since he’s only released just one studio album since then (2004’s Harmony, which certainly should not be ignored simply because it came out after this set), but it’s also an elaborate summation of just how much great work the singer-songwriter has done over the course of his career.

Frankie Valli turns 82 years old today, and while the Four Seasons frontman may not be hitting the concert stage quite as often now as he did during the group’s heyday, he’s still regularly on the road and keeps belting out the hits for the fans. In celebration of his birthday, we thought we’d celebrate an aspect of his career that’s sometimes forgotten: his work as an actor.

Rhino has made it a point to reissue classic albums on 180-gram vinyl on a regular basis. These are the latest to get that treatment. You're welcome.

In the late ‘80s, college rock darlings didn’t get any more darling than 10,000 Maniacs, who – thanks in no small part to the swirling skirts and soulful vocals of lead singer Natalie Merchant – were all over the CMJ charts and eventually worked their way into the mainstream. We’ve reissued two of the band’s key albums from the Merchant era of the band (that’s a casual way of reminding you that they’re still going strong, just with Mary Ramsey in Natalie’s spot), and although you’ll probably remember them simply from their titles, we’ll throw you a bone and offer a few facts about each of them, just in case.

17 years ago today, Tom Petty started letting people walk all over him. Not because he’d suddenly become a soft touch, but because he and the Heartbreakers were given their very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On April 28, 1999, Los Angeles officially deemed it to be Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Day within the city limits, a honor which accompanied the aforementioned star. During the unveiling ceremony, which took place only a week after the release of his and the Hearbreakers’ album, Echo, Petty was humble about the accolade, describing it as “pretty unbelievable” and admitting to the assembled crowd, “We used to walk up and down this street and look at the stars and never dreamed we would ever have one.”

If you believe that the preceding two sentences are in any way hyperbolic, then we would politely advise you to dig a little deeper into the catalog of the Minneapolis-born man who entered the world as Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958. He wanted to be your lover even as he wanted to know why you wanted to treat him so bad, and while his dirty mind might have led him into controversy, it also repeatedly led him to the top of the pop charts on five separate occasions: “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Kiss,” “Batdance,” and “Cream” all made their way to #1.

Well, that’s just perfect: as we’re sitting here at Rhino, still reeling from the news of Prince’s death, we attempt to set aside our grief by writing today’s birthday and anniversary posts, and the find that the first one on the docket is…the anniversary of a Prince-composed song hitting the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

24 years ago today, the Sisters of Mercy released an updated version of a single that they’d originally released back in 1984. The original version didn’t chart. The updated version became the biggest hit of their career.

Remember, kids: recycling pays.

When the Sisters got started in the late ‘70s, it would be fair to say that their sound was not necessarily one which lent itself to mainstream popularity, and this was borne out by the fact that none of their first five singles – “The Damage Done “ (1980), “Body Electric” (1982), “Alice” (1982), “Anaconda” (1983), and the aforementioned “Temple of Love” – made their way onto the chart in the UK, let alone anywhere else. In 1984, however, the band’s profile began an upward trajectory, starting with their “Body and Soul” single, and by the time 1992 rolled around, they’d accrued five top-40 singles in the UK: “This Corrosion,” “Dominion,” “Lucretia My Reflection,” “More,” and “Dr. Jeep.”

Gary Barden, Paul Raymond, Chris Glen, Cozy Powell and of course Michael Schenker himself made up the 1981 iteration of the Michael Schenker Group and by the time they reached Japan in 1981, they were filling pretty big venues. One such place was the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo and this week's playlist showcases the tracks they played that evening. Enjoy.